You should know how long should wedding vows be, which is under 3 minutes. We will discuss in this article the best tips on writing wedding vows so you won’t exceed the expected duration.
And as for relatives or friends who are asked to give a toast, you may also want to check out how long should a wedding toast be. Writing these speeches at weddings should be easy when you know how long you’ll be speaking.
How Long Should Your Wedding Vows Be: Ultimate Guide For Writing Wedding Vows
Wedding vows should be at least under a minute up to two minutes long. Between one to two minutes is typically the duration of marriage vows in most weddings.
It’s uncommon for the wedding vows to last longer than two minutes, but it’s also possible for them to last longer. The wedding vows could be longer, especially in religious ceremonies compared to spiritual ceremonies.
This is because religious couples can incorporate prayer or scripture reading in their vows during the wedding. On the other hand, non-religious vows are more personalized and can get shorter at under a minute.
How long is the average wedding vow?
In most weddings, the average time spent on wedding vows is two minutes long per person for a total of four minutes when the couple exchanges their vows during the ceremony. Couples also vary in how they want their wedding ceremony to flow, so the traditional wedding vows can either be separate from the wedding ring exchange or not.
Some weddings have the ring exchange as part of the bride and groom’s wedding vows. On the other hand, there are also weddings where the couple has a ring exchange followed by the wedding vow exchange separately.
How short can wedding vows be?
If you prefer a short and sweet wedding vow, the shortest duration is 45 seconds compared to the average length of two minutes for wedding vows. When writing the vows, you can also limit yourself to up to three sentences to help you plan the length.
How long should writing wedding vows be?
You can start wedding vows as early as three weeks before your wedding. It’s always a better idea to write the vows early, so you can incorporate everything you want to say in the short period during the ceremony.
Cramming the wedding vows at the last minute puts you at risk of forgetting potentially important details. Additionally, it’s an advantage to finish writing the wedding vows early because you can also try and rehearse them before the special day.
A wedding vow can take several days to a week to finish. So expect that you may do two to three drafts until you’re satisfied with the finished vows.
What do you say in wedding vows?
Since wedding vows only usually run for two minutes for each person, it can be hard to fit all you want to say in such a limited period. So a tip you can apply when writing the marriage vows is to include reasons why you want to marry them, promises throughout spending life with them, and what you want in a marriage.
Remember to be precise and straightforward as other elements after the ceremony will also take time. You also don’t want guests to get impatient because you went into detail about your love story.
If you want to practice the flow of the wedding ceremony, you can read how to run a wedding rehearsal.
How Many Paragraphs Should Wedding Vows Be?
When unsure of how long should vows be, limit them to three to five paragraphs when writing. This should ensure that you won’t go over two minutes, the average duration of wedding vows.
Nevertheless, it’s also worth noting that there are no rules with how many paragraphs you can do for wedding vows. You can even limit the vows to one paragraph only, as some are under 50 seconds long.
How Many Sentences Are Wedding Vows?
Wedding vows can range from 9 to 15 sentences. Some couples prefer limiting themselves with sentences when writing vows to quickly see if they can reach the time limit and incorporate everything they want to say in the vows.
How Many Words Are Average In Wedding Vows?
The average wedding vow is between 175 to 250 words. Keep in mind that there are no rules regarding wedding vow word count as people vary in the speed of how they speak, so even if you go over 250 words, you can still maintain the two-minute duration.
Can Wedding Vows Be Too Long?
Knowing how much time to allocate for wedding vows is essential to avoid having them for too long. Going over three minutes would be too long for wedding vows because there are still other elements of the ceremony.
Conclusion
Was this writing guide helpful? We just learned how long should wedding vows be, which is between 45 seconds to two minutes.
You can also limit your writing to a maximum of 15 sentences, five paragraphs, or 250 words. We hope these numbers gave you an idea of the ideal vow length; let us know below how long is yours.